Judaism 101

Welcome
About the Author
Where to Start
Table of Contents

Welcome!

Welcome to Judaism 101! Judaism 101 is an online encyclopedia of Judaism, covering Jewish beliefs, people, places, things, language, scripture, holidays, practices and customs. My goal is to make freely available a wide variety of basic, general information about Judaism, written from a traditional perspective in plain English. This web site is constantly growing, with new pages added every few weeks.

Everything in this web site is free to use or distribute in any way, with two conditions: 1) if you use text, graphics or sound from this site, please credit this site; 2) do not redistribute this information for profit.

About the Author

This site is created, written and maintained by Tracey Rich. I do not claim to be a rabbi or an expert on Judaism; I'm just a traditional, observant Jew who has put in a lot of research. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or corrections, please let me know at: jewfaq@aol.com. I try to respond to all questions I get, but it usually takes me a week or more to respond.

For Yom Kippur and Days of Awe
Two years in a row!

Where to Start

There are over fifty web pages on this site, comprising over 200 pages of text, a virtual book of information on Judaism. That's a lot of information! Where should you start? That depends on what you're looking for:

Just browsing?: If you're not sure what you're looking for, and you just want to see what's available on this site, look through the Table of Contents below.
Looking for something specific?: If you are looking for something specific, you might want to go to the Glossary of Jewish Terminology and search for specific words using your browser's Find command (usually located on the Edit menu). The glossary gives quick definitions of Jewish terms and concepts, and has links to the pages where these concepts are discussed in depth.
Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced?: Judaism 101 was originally created as an introduction to Judaism for people with little or no knowledge. But like the Passover seder, this site now includes information for the wise son, who wants to know the ritual details; the simple son, who asks simple questions; and the son who does not know what to ask (the wicked son can go someplace else <grin>). Pages in the Table of Contents are now labeled appropriately:
Basic: Things that everyone should know, that require no prior knowledge
Intermediate: Beyond the basics
Advanced: More sophisticated concepts
Want to see what's new?: If you've been here before and just want to see what's new on the site, try the What's Nu? page, a chronological list of additions and significant changes to pages in this site.